New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1887-11-10
PLUNDERED By ITS OFFICERS
THE ST. LOUIS NATIONAL BANK FAlLuep
CASHIER CRECfLrUs ARRESTED AND pRpsrDpx,
ovERsTOLZ DYING-GUILELEss DIRECTORS.
fpY TELEGRAPH TO THE rRrpUsrl

| ST. LOUIS, Nov. 0.-The suspension Of the FINN
National Bank followed to-day by the arrest Of
the cashier c. C. Crcccllus, the charge of trara
and tho announcement that the president Henry
! Overstoz, dying Tho evidence In tho hands
of the National Bank examiner shows that the inst.
! tuition has been wrecked by the action OF the p..
ident and cashier IN Specializing I'm outside enter.
prIses All the bank has to show for It's wasted
funds is 100000 of worthless paper. Mr. Formap
| the examiner, said
"For six months the cashier has been maxim faI~
entries You the fraud committed by increas-
Ing tho statement OF cash hand In each case bv
100000. Tho item OF loans and discounts was ths,
decreased by SlOO 600 to make the fs,fn.
correct. The fraud plainly evident as the ap
urcs had been altered. The money loaned 10 tas
Meyer Lumber Company was loaned to It under four
or five different names. OF course, In a case Of ,b.k
kind the bank examiner could not tell that tho banu
was overlOancd. That was something for tho d.
rectors TO know. We knew that the bank had mad.
excessive loans To two persons. ! 50 informed tho
Government when ! made my examination NJ TIA
bank. and the GOvernmeT. notified tine bank IN "a
drce It's loans Instead Of doing 50 It increased them
Why. only on October 81 fnd noto Of tho John
Meyer Lumber Company for 600 Mr.. snccb,.
one OF tho directors tells me that he never saw this
note until showed # TO him. The whole bank seems
to have been run by the president and cashier TTa
directors were not allowed to know anything about
tho condition vi things They had the cashiers
sworn statement. and they accep.ed IT,
"The cashier was really the head OF the lumbcr
company. The bank lost 10000 on a cotton spek
ulation. 1t bought the Ellotsville Woollen Mn a
Danielsvile, Conn, and loaned money to the con
under four IN order to evade tho law
prohibiting loans Of moro than 10 per cent Of caplid
to one Here IS hldc-dcaler named Cold
smith who is in for $4,000 under three or four
He turned all his effects the banh
to-day. Tho directors were just fgrebeads srd
were entirely ignorant of what going The
st. Louis Planning Mil Company I'm which Crecelin
was a director, owes the bank $4,000, and it h
almost a total loss All the books are falslfed and
# is probable that very little will be left when the
truth is known
President Overstolz Ia an ex-MayOr and one % tho
most prominent 1nanciers Of the city. Cecelus has
also stood well and connected by marriage With
the president
George A. Rubelman, director and acting president
of tho bank in the absence of yce-Prcsident James
Green, who Is In Europe was secn and said that 10
knew nothing in particular about the developments
brought cut by the bank examiner g. Mr. Oyer,0lx
and Mr. Crecelus managed tho banks affairs, and ths
directors merely around daily to look at tho
paper. which a purely formal proceeding 70
al trusted Mr. CcoclluN, and we had uhboundcd con
fidcnce in MI. Over-tolzp
" Did you know nothing OF the changes In the fig.
ures OF the cash entries :"
No, sir knew nothing about It. I now learn
that thiS Kind Of work has been going OF for years
back eVor since, In fact the bank was organized N
1851
The arrest of Creccius was made at the bank.
Mr. Crccelu- was much astOnishcd when the warrant
was read 10 him and broke down completely fs
hal p a4,e SoIz,s gave M her Io0fn 10 him he
SAT- down the sofa and gave way 10 tcar~ Hs
waa left In the rccm without person 10 wafcn
him. The deputies went about other work and chia
Deputy !. III. Bohlc being away AZ luncheon, only y
Tho bond was fixed al $1,000 and being unable 70
furnish 1t CreceliuS is still prisoner